Firsts

An exchange of emails with Jerome Gambit Gemeinde member Pete Banks ("blackburne"):

Hi Rick,

Not sure if I mentioned this, but one of my Internet wins with the Jerome is in Gary Lane's book The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps .

I wonder if this is the first publication of a complete Jerome game in book form?

Pete

Hi Pete,

I've got dibs on the review copy of Gary's book when it shows up at Chessville, so I'll be able to see your game in print with my own eyes. Congratulations all over again!

As for the first publication of a complete Jerome Gambit game in book form, I think your game is a rare item, but not the first.

Andres Clemente Vazquez included three Jerome Gambits from his second match with William Carrington in his book Algunas Partidas de Ajedrez (1876); and he shared his game against L. Giraudy in the 2nd & 3rd editions of his Analisis del juego de ajedres: libro a propositio para que pueda aprender dicho juego, el que lo ignore del todo, in necesidad de maestro (1885, 1889). (Not in the 1st edition, mind you: it was published in 1874, the first year that the Jerome Gambit saw print.)

Of course, the infamous game Amateur - Blackburne, London 1885, appeared in Mr. Blackburne's Games at Chess (1899), and thereafter in numerous books, including Handbuch des Schachspiels - 8th ed (1916); Du Mont's 200 Miniature Games of Chess (1942); Chernev and Harkness' An Invitation to Chess A Picture Guide to the Royal Game (1945); and Wenman's Master Chess Play (1951).

More recently, Eric Schiller has included Amateur -Blackburne in his Unorthodox Chess Openings (1998, 2002) and Gambit Chess Openings (2002); and, with John Watson, his Survive and Beat Annoying Chess Openings (2003).

Hope that isn't rain on your parade -- your game appears to be the first game from this century and the past one to appear in book form, as far as I know. Good enough?

Best wishes,

Rick

Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (18)

RevvedUp challenges Shredder 8 with its own defensive idea; yet, in the end, the silicon beast outplays him. This game is less about Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) theory and more about how a stronger opponent gives "Jerome Gambit odds" and then gradually outplays his opposition.


Shredder 8 - RevvedUp
2 12, 2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6


Familiar ground.

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Qh4

RevvedUp tries out Shredder 8's innovation (see "Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (17)").

10.Nc3 c6 11.d3 Nf6 12.Qd4

A real computer-style move: Shredder 8 sees that his opponent's formation leaves the d-pawn unprotected. In this position RevvedUp likely would have chosen 12.Qg5 to exchange Queens.

12...Ke7 13.h3 Qh5 14.0-0 Qc5

Again, RevvedUp would like to head toward the endgame. For this 14...Qe5 was also a possibility. Shredder 8 should now swap Queens.

15.Qa4 Re8

This is a solid move. Black would have gotten his wish after 15...b5 16.Qa5 Qb6 17.Qxb6 axb6 which is probably the stronger line.

16.Be3 Qe5

Provoking the pawns.

17.f4 Qe6

Better: 17...Qh5

18.f5 Qf7 19.fxg6 Qxg6

RevvedUp has returned the piece, a standard strategy for Black, but White's position is too strong.

20.Rf3 h6 21.Raf1 Be6 22.Qb4 b6 23.e5 Nd5 24.Qxd6 checkmate

Ouch!

Jerome Gambit: Drilling Down (17)

Here we have another difficult struggle between human and computer which looked for the longest time like a draw – success for both RevvedUp and the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – but Shredder 8 was finally able to plot a breakthrough that led to a full point (that most humans would have split well before then).

RevvedUp - Shredder 8
blitz 2 12, 2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6
7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Qh4 TN

This thematic move almost always carries strong counterplay with it.
10.0-0 Nf6 11.d3
Or 11.f3 followed by d4.

11...Kf7 12.Qg5 Qxg5
RevvedUp is always willing to play the endgame, an area generally considered a weakness for computers.

13.Bxg5 Bd7 14.Nc3 Rhf8 15.h3 Nh5 16.Rae1 Nhf4 17.Kh2
Covering the possible sac at h3.
17...h6 18.Bxf4 Nxf4 19.Ne2 Ke7 20.Nxf4 Rxf4 21.f3 Raf8
RevvedUp has established a solid position that he quietly defends, waiting for Shredder 8 to either make a series of small errors that can be taken advantage of – or yield a draw by repetition.

22.Rf2 Ke6 23.Ree2 h5 24.Kg1 h4 25.Kf1 Ke5 26.Kg1 Ke6 27.Kf1 Ke5 28.Kg1 Be6 29.a3 Re8 30.Kf1 Ref8 31.Ke1 Bd7
32.Kd2 c5 33.c3 Ke6 34.Ke3 Bb5 35.Kd2 a5 36.Kc2 b6 37.Kd2 Ba4 38.Kc1 b5 39.Kd2 Bb3 40.Ke3 R8f6 41.Rd2 Rf8 42.Ke2 R8f7 43.Ke3 a4 44.Rfe2 R4f6 45.Rf2 Rf4 46.Rfe2 Rf8
White is still holding his fortress. Black decides to break in the center.

47.Rf2 d5 48.Rfe2 dxe4 49.dxe4 Ke7 50.Re1 Ke6 51.Rf1
You have to wonder what Shredder 8 would have done with 51.Ree2.
51...Ke7 52.Re1 Ke6 53.Rf1 Ke5 54.Re1 R4f7 55.Ree2 Be6 56.Rf2 Rf4 57.Rde2 Bd7 58.Rd2 Bc6 59.Rde2 R4f7 60.Rd2 Bb7
It's easy to get the feeling that if Shredder 8 continues to play, eventually it will stumble over the right lines. I think average club players would have split the point by now.

61.Rde2 Rd7 62.Rd2 Rfd8 63.Rxd7 Rxd7 64.Rd2
Understandably wanting to reduce the number of pieces further, but ultimately not a good idea: Black's King gets to infiltrate the Kingside. The tireless Shredder 8 has won down the valiant human.

64...Rxd2 65.Kxd2 Kf4 66.Ke2 Bc8 67.Kf2 Be6 68.Kf1 Kg3 69.Kg1 Bc4 70.Kh1 Bf1 71.Kg1 Bxg2 White resigns

The Westminster Papers

Using Google Books to search the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) I recently came across Volume XI of The Westminster Papers of London, "A Monthly Journal of Chess, Whist, Games of Skill, and The Drama" which had this note in its February 1, 1879 issue:

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

CHESS

H.W.P. (Vermont, U.S., A.) -- We shall be most happy to receive some games fairly well played, in which the Jerome Double Gambit was adopted. They will be handed to our annotator in due course, and will analyse them in an unprejudiced and impartial manner.

The March and April issues which complete Volume XI have no further reference to Jerome's Gambit – and this is unfortunate, as they were the last issues of The Westminster Papers to be published.

The refererence to the chess player "H.W.P" of Vermont is also a mystery to me at this point.

Readers able to shed a light on this are encouraged to either post a "comment" or contact me via email.

Graphic by Jeff Bucchino, wizardofdraws

London Calling... Seven Months of Blog

Dear Jerome Gambit Gemeinde,

Another month has passed, this blog has reached 215 consecutive daily posts, and different outrageous lines of play continue to pop up here.

Beside obscure lines in the Giuoco Piano (see "Don't make me go Jerome all over you..."), the Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit (see "Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit", "Blackburne Shilling Jerome Gambit 2", "Blackburne Shilling Gambit: The Trapper Trapped? (Part I)" and "Blackburne Shilling Gambit: The Trapper Trapped? (Part II)") and the Abrahams Jerome Gambit (see "'Tis A Puzzlement...", "The Abrahams Jerome Gambit (Part I)" and "The Abrahams Jerome Gambit (Part II)") there's even been a couple of Evans Jerome Gambits (see "Evans Jerome Gambit" and "Hoist by my own petard...").

Throughout 2009 I will continue to add games, analysis and history on these lines.

I also got wondering the other day: is there another totally obscure and disreputable tactical opening line or gambit that I could go digging for information about, while I'm researching the Jerome Gambit?? Certainly 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 and 1.d4 e5 would meet criteria – except the Elephant and Englund Gambits have been lifted out of obscurity by modern analysis and games.

Readers and members of the Jerome Gambit Gemeinde are encouraged to make suggestions in the "comments".

Best wishes,

Rick Kennedy ("perrypawnpusher")

p.s. Visitors to this site have come from 73 different countries, and from 49 of the 50 states & Washington DC.

Hip' Kat

From a recent email from Garry Gifford, editor of the Unorthodox Openings Newsletter and one of the authors (along with Davide Rozzoni and Bill Wall) of the new Winning with the Krazy Kat and Old Hippo (see my review of the book at Chessville) -

...On a related note, last Saturday I played in Martin Frere Hillyer's first Thomas Frere Chess Memorial tournament (an unrated unadvertised invitational event) . [See my review of Hillyer's impressive Thomas Frère and the Brotherhood of Chess: A History of 19th Century Chess in New York City - RK]

In round 4 I drew with a guy and had to play a 5 minute tie-break game to see who would get the "gold" and who would get the "silver." These were not real gold and real silver, of course, just colored metal to resemble the actual.

So, having black and facing a very booked up player (who was also great at speed chess), I played the Krazy Kat. This was for the Gold, so you can see I take the Kat seriously (also a crowd was watching). Sure enough, my plan was a good one.

White was taking a great deal of time in the opening and early middle game and I could move at the speed of a crazy cat. But perhaps I moved too fast. In the middle game my opponent calculated a way to exchange pawns, pin a knight, gang up on it, and win it. And he did.

But at the cost of much time. I had 1 minute and 14 seconds showing on the clock. He had 6 seconds. "Avoid getting mated and the Gold is yours," said my inner self. And so I toughned up the defense while making some threats of my own with queen and rooks on open files. And 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 1... Black won on time.

Phew! So, I owe the gold to the Krazy Kat.

(By the way, the English Chess Forum has some interesting posts on the Hippopotamus and its creator. And Chess.com has a nice discussion on the Krazy Kat started by author Bill Wall - RK)

Perhaps not every opening should be Jerome-ized...

One of these day's I'm going to have to swipe a phrase from past military commercials and say something like "The Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) – it's not a chess opening, it's an adventure!"

But, maybe not an adventure for everyone, every time...

greatapple - perrypawnpusher
blitz game 2 12 FICS, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.Qh5

There are a lot of names for this opening, perhaps the earliest being the Danvers Opening, named after a hospital (an asylum?) in New England.

Master Bernard Parham, of Indiana, has woven the move into an entirely new way of looking at chess, something he calls "the Matrix System."

Actor Woody Harrelson once played the line against Gary Kasparov. On the other hand, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has played the opening against at least one GM.

2...Nf6

A fun gambit response. The earliest example I have in my database continued: 3.Qxe5+ Be7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Qf4 0-0 6.Be2 Bd6 7.Qe3 Re8 8.d3 Be5 9.Nf3 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 d5 11.Nd2 d4 12.cxd4 Nxd4 13.Bd1 Be6 14.f3 Nc6 15.0-0 Qd7 16.Nb3 b6 17.Bb2 Qe7 18.Qg5 h6 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.Qxf6 gxf6 21.c3 Rad8 22.d4 Kh8 23.d5 Bxd5 24.exd5 Rxd5 25.Bc2 Rg8 26.Rfe1 Na5 27.Nxa5 Rd2 28.g3 Rxc2 29.Nc6 Rxc3 30.Nxa7 Rxf3 31.Re7 f5 32.Rxc7 f4 33.Rxf7 Ra3 34.Nb5 Ra5 35.Nd6 fxg3 36.h3 g2 37.Ne4 Rg6 38.Nf6 Rxf6 39.Rxf6 Rg5 40.Rf7 Kg8 41.Rc7 Rg3 42.Rd1 Black resigned, McClure - Mathewson, Boston 1905

3.Qxe5+ Be7 4.Bc4 Nc6



Black has adequate compensation for his pawn, in terms of better development and the uneasy White Queen.

5.Bxf7+


Wow!

I mean, seriously: Wow! Was I shocked!

Some people will try to Jerome-ize just about anything! (See "King of Bxf7+" for some radical examples.)

Stil, in the real Jerome Gambit there is usually an enemy piece hanging around on c5 to be captured in many lines – not so in this game. White gets hardly anything at all for his piece.

5...Kxf7 6.Qf5 d5

6...Nd4 is even stronger, and might have ended the game quicker.

7.Qf3 dxe4 8.Qb3+ Qd5


Being content to extinguish even a spark of an attack by White, I offered to go into an endgame where I had a piece-for-a-pawn advantage – plus better development, and a more active (previously: less safe) King.

Tactical maniacs will quickly see that I missed a chance to play 8...Be6, when 9.Qxb7 would have been a bad idea for White after 9...Nd4 10.Kd1 Nxc2 anyway! 11.Kxc2 Qd3+ 12.Kd1 Qf1+ 13.Kc2 Rhb8 with a crushing position.

9.Qxd5+ Nxd5 10.c3

Keeping a Knight off of either d4 or b4, but simple development with 10.Ne2 was better.

10...Nf4 11.Kf1 Nd3 12.Na3 Bc5 13.f3 Nf2 14.fxe4 Nxh1

This should be enough to win, even if the Knight never escapes.

15.b4 Bb6 16.Nf3 Nf2 17.d3 Nxd3 18.Ke2 Nde5 19.Nxe5+ Nxe5 20.Bf4

White even has an advantage in development now – but it's too late to change things. An oversight ends things.

20...Ng6 21.Rf1 Nxf4+ 22.Rxf4+ Ke7 23.Nc4 Be6 24.Ne5 Rhf8 25.Rg4 Bxg4+ 26.Nxg4 White resigns